


Unwanted Legacy

by oliviabeauregard



Category: One Piece
Genre: Discussion of Abortion, Multi, Or Rather OC-Insert, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rouge and Roger make unusually strong children, Self-Insert, Small Child Bullies Pirate, but i do not care, this is very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:34:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26100460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliviabeauregard/pseuds/oliviabeauregard
Summary: Rouge's steamy love affair with a wanted man started a little earlier. Ace gets an older sister. The heirs of the pirate Gold Roger are still fated for tragedy.
Relationships: Gol D. Roger/Portgas D. Rouge, Original Character(s) & Portgas D. Rouge
Comments: 12
Kudos: 49





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This an OC-Insert, so basically a Self-Insert without any reality hopping shenanigans or reincarnation. The lives of Ace and Luffy are tragic and they could use a competent adult to help them as kids. And then I thought, what if that adult...wasn't so competent. So here's the start of a story I've been working on for a long time.

The courtship between Rouge and Roger was short and sweet. Rouge was charmed and intrigued by his bold personality and adventurous stories; Roger was starstruck by her beauty and kindness. However, Roger was a pirate, bound to the sea by his wanderlust, and Rouge was a small town seamstress, bound to the island where she had lived her whole life. Their affair was not meant to last, and they both accepted it. 

Roger stayed with her on Baterilla for three months, and she loved every day they had together. He would sit in her kitchen for hours, listening to her talk about her boring life in the South Blue while she baked warm, sugary treats. He would wax poetically about the dangers of the Grand Line, and reminisce about his simple beginning in Loguetown. He even introduced her to his crew, a rambunctious group of fellows that seemed to define the idea of freedom.

When the time came for Roger to leave, there were no tears shed (though Roger’s little apprentices looked to be already missing her baked treats). Rouge expected a melancholy farewell to be the last she saw of her lover, but he surprised her by giving a promise to write and that he would see her again someday. 

The Oro Jackson left the harbor and vanished into the horizon, and Rouge went back to work. With her island village as small as it was, there were many quiet days, especially now that the friendly pirates were gone. She made the hats and skirts and embroidered and mended and sewed her days away. Her neighbor and friend got married, and she designed and stitched her a wedding dress. 

The first letter Roger sent was both a greeting and an apology. Since he had no reliable way to receive postage, their letters could only be one way. She read the letter several times over, feeling joyful yet wistful. 

One month after Roger left, she became suspicious. Two months later, her suspicions grew stronger, and she made a test. After an hour of sitting in the bathroom, staring blankly at the reader saying “positive,” suspicion turned to panic. 

Liliana, her neighbor, friend, and now newly-wed only made her panic grow. 

“You’re pregnant with the child of a pirate!” she yelled as she paced Rouge’s small kitchen. “I didn’t even know you were seeing him, when did you get the time to have sex with a  _ wanted man?” _

“We met on the other side of the island,” Rouge said, feeling a little numb. “We agreed to keep it a secret since the navy was getting more aggressive in chasing him after he started sailing in the New World…”

“You were having an affair with a pirate, and you didn’t tell me!” Liliana said. She seemed to calm down a bit and gave her a keen look. “...was he good?”

“This is not the time for that, Liliana,” Rouge bit out. “And I wouldn’t call it an affair, neither of us are married…”

“That makes it even worse, Rouge.” Liliana sat down across from her and grasped her hands in her own. “Having the child of a pirate is already a condemnation, but you’re also an unmarried woman with a child. Even if the villagers keep it a secret, they can make life hard for a woman with a bastard child.”

Rouge bit her lip. “What should I do?”

“You could get an abortion. We’d have to go to a discrete doctor, maybe even off-island, but you’re only two months along. That would be the easiest option.”

The smartest option as well, if Rouge thought about it. The world already treated bastard children as the lowest of the low. A bastard child of a pirate was practically a death sentence. 

But. 

“Roger wasn’t just another love affair or conquest, Liliana,” Rouge muttered. “He was larger than life; he was kind, gentle...he made me feel things like no other man has before.”

Liliana sighed. “You love a pirate that much?”

Rouge nodded, her eyes firm. 

“Having a baby is no joke,” her friend said with a serious look, “And that’s just the pregnancy. Raising a kid will change your life.”

“Roger promised he’d come back one day,” Rouge said. “He might not accept it, but if I could choose anyone to have a family with, it would be him.”

“That’s another thing. Roger is a pirate—a  _ Grand Line  _ pirate. If the government finds out you had his child, you’ll be imprisoned at best.”

Rouge ran her hand over her stomach. “So...what can we do?”

They decided that Rouge would be going off-island for a while to visit her “cousins.” She would have the child and come back with her newest “baby cousin” to take care of after the mother died in childbirth. 

“It’s not foolproof,” Liliana said. “Any woman can probably guess that you had a child out of wedlock and covered it up. But nobody knows you were seeing Roger, and the worst you’ll get is a couple of glares from the old crones.”

“It’ll fool the navy, though?”

“It should. Just don’t tell anyone else about your steamy love affair with a wanted man, alright?”

It seemed Liliana was still a little peeved that Rouge didn’t tell her about Roger. 

Rouge was staying with Liliana’s niece, who lived about a three-day journey from Baterilla. Nina, the daughter of Liliana’s eldest brother, was a trained nurse that spent half the year at sea working on some merchant’s ship and the other half on her home island. Nina’s off-time matched up with Rouge’s pregnancy, though they would be cutting it close near the end. 

Liliana and her husband were traveling with her, though Alexander was ignorant of the real reasons. “I love him, but he can’t keep a secret to save his life.” The three days on the ocean felt both the longest and fastest days she’d ever experienced. She was glad she didn’t get seasick, and apart from the morning sickness, the trip was rather pleasant. She could almost understand why Roger liked to spend months at a time on the water. 

When they docked, Nina was waiting for them at the harbor. She looked familiar, and appeared only a year or two younger than Rouge and was still wearing her nurse uniform. She noticed it was an odd, bright pink color, but didn’t say anything. 

“Nina!” Lilianna greeted with a smile and a hug. 

“Hi, Aunt Lily, hi, Alex,” Nina said, returning the hug. “I’m so glad to see you both, how have you been since the wedding?”

“We’ve been doing just fine, thanks for asking! By the way, this is my friend Rouge, my neighbor in Baterilla.”

“The one who’s taking care of her cousins, right?” Nina smiled and shook Rouge’s hand firmly. “I remember seeing you at the wedding, though I don’t think we spoke.”

“Yes, I thought you looked familiar.”

“Awesome, everyone knows each other!” Liliana then clapped her hands together. “Alexander and I are going shopping, so I’ll leave you two to mingle!”

“Wait, Lily isn’t that--”

“LET’S GO!”

The couple marched away from the docks, leaving them standing in somewhat awkward silence. 

“So...Liliana told you the truth, right?” Rouge said hesitantly. She swore she was going to kill her friend if she left without explaining anything. 

Nina nodded. “You’re due in six months, but the dress you’re wearing hides the bump pretty well. My house is this way--a bit of a walk, but it’s got a nice view of the town and ocean.”

Nina’s home was a small cottage on a tall hill overlooking the ocean. There were rose bushes lining the pathway to the door, which were looking slightly wilted. 

“Sorry about the plants, I usually have a friend that takes care of them while I’m away, but she was busy this past month.”

“I think they’re lovely,” she remarked. Rouge had always had a love for flowers.

Nina smiled. “Maybe you can help me take care of them during your stay.”

“Of course!”

Nina showed her the room she would be staying in, which looked to be a small study converted to a guest bedroom. 

“Thank you for doing all this,” Rouge said quietly. Seeing the bedroom she would be staying in for the next six months made everything very real. She was going to have a baby. Her and Roger’s baby. 

A pirate’s child. 

“Rouge?” 

She looked up, missing the last thing Nina said. “Pardon?”

“I said it’s no trouble,” Nina laughed. “Feeling tired?”

“Yes, actually,” she said, surprised at the truth of the statement. The boat arrived near sunset, and the sky was now darkening rapidly. 

“Let’s just do a quick health check before Aunt Lily comes back,” Nina said. She sat on a chair with a small notepad. “Now, you said you estimated you’re about three months along?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been taking prenatal vitamins?”

“Um...no?” What were prenatal vitamins?

Nina refrained from sighing or frowning, but Rouge still had a feeling Liliana’s cousin was already exasperated with her. So much for a good impression. 

“Alright, we’ll pick those up first thing tomorrow.”

Despite Rouge’s vast lack of knowledge about pregnancy and general health (Potatoes don’t count as vegetables?), she and Nina got along well. Liliana and Alexander only stayed the first week (Alexander still kept in the dark the whole time), and when they were giving their goodbyes, Rouge found herself not wanting to let go of her friend. 

It would be the first time since Liliana’s honeymoon that she wouldn’t be close by. Liliana was almost six years older than Rouge, but their friendship was strong. Rouge was having a hard time accepting she would go through the entire pregnancy and birth without her best friend by her side.

“You’ll be okay,” Liliana whispered. She wondered if her friend was having trouble saying goodbye as well. 

They did leave, in the end, and Rouge was left alone with Nina. 

After the first few days of awkward interaction, Rouge found herself thoroughly enjoying time with Nina. Rouge mended old clothes and scrubs and helped Nina with the roses. Nina also told her stories of being a nurse at sea. 

“And the captain scared them off with just a  _ look?” _

“Yep!”

Rouge laughed in disbelief. “Big, bad Grand Line pirates, chased off by a merchant ship captain. Who is this guy?”

Nina just smiled. “Can’t say for sure, really. But I do know I wouldn’t settle to sail under anyone else.”

As the weeks passed, Rouge’s belly grew, along with her appetite. Liliana had once said that she ate a lot for someone her size, but even she knew the amount of food she ate was abnormal. 

“An increase in appetite and odd cravings is normal,” Nina said, though even she looked a little shocked after witnessing Rouge devour two entire roasted chickens. 

“It’s his father’s fault,” Rouge grumbled. “He has a black hole for a stomach, too.”

“Think it’s a boy, then?” Nina didn’t ask about the father because she knew Rouge wouldn’t be very forthcoming. 

“After eating that many pounds of meat, what else could it be?”

Nina laughed. “All I know is that babies are full of surprises.”

Her due date was approaching quickly, and Rouge’s stomach was bigger than she ever imagined it could be. She knew her size was average, but not being able to see her toes or a good part of the floor in front of her was disconcerting. 

“I never want to do this again,” Rouge groaned as she felt the little gremlin push against her ribs.

“It’s up to you, but the worst is almost over,” Nina said with a smile. 

The long-awaited birth began when Rouge thought she peed herself. When she managed to tell Nina through her embarrassment, the nurse stiffened and informed her that her water had just broken and that she was going into labor. Right now. 

The next four hours were a blur of pain, sweat, and the all-encompassing determination to  _ get this baby out of her.  _ Nina was giving her breathing instructions and encouragement the entire time, which she appreciated when she could focus on her words. 

After was seemed like an eternity, Nina presented her with a clean, wrinkly infant. “It’s a girl,” Nina said quietly. “Let her breastfeed; I still need to deliver the placenta.”

“There’s more?” Rouge whined, though she still let the little gremlin latch on and suckle. Nina laughed. 

“Nowhere near as traumatic, I promise.” 

Rouge found that she was right, as she barely paid attention to what Nina was doing. All of her focus was on the tiny creature cuddled up against her. She was bald, wrinkly, and her face looked a bit squished. Somehow, she was the most precious thing she had ever laid eyes on. 

“Alright, you don’t need any stitches, but be careful down there for a while. Pee in the shower if you need to.”

Rouge made a small sound of acknowledgment. The baby had stopped suckling and was now dozing on her chest. She felt similarly exhausted. 

“Have you thought of any names?” Nina asked. 

Rouge had wanted to honor the tradition of naming children after their grandparents. Her father’s name was Alois, and her mother’s name Edna. She had a feeling her child would resent the name Edna, so she stuck with the feminine version of her father’s. 

“Aloise,” she said sleepily. “Gol D. Aloise.”

She heard Nina make a slight choking noise, but she fell into a deep slumber before she could retract her words. 

When she woke up, Nina was sitting in a chair with the baby swaddled in soft fabric. Rouge looked at her blankly, feeling like she was forgetting something important. 

“So,” Nina began, looking a bit shellshocked. “Gold Roger, huh?”

Rouge felt her body go numb first, then heat up as her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Nina must have seen the panic on her face and quickly reassured her. 

“Rouge, calm down, it’s fine...I’m not going to tell anyone.” Nina gave a slightly crooked smile. “Though you may want to change the last name, at least for a while.”

Rouge just stared. “We’re not even married,” she blurted. 

Nina let out a startled laugh. “He got you pregnant, and didn’t even give you a ring? Good for nothing pirate!” The nurse was beginning to sound slightly hysterical. 

“It’s not like that,” Rouge corrected with a smile. She gently took her sleeping baby into her arms, being careful not to wake her. The newborn was too young to have any definable traits, but Rouge imagined she could see both her and Roger in the baby’s features. “Roger left before I knew, and I have no way to contact him.”

Nina gave her a searching look. “I’m surprised you decided to have the baby,” she said. “Being the child of an infamous pirate is no easy thing.”

Rouge sighed. “I know. It might have been the better choice, for both of us, but...I wanted to have this chance. Roger is the only man I would want to have a family with.”

Nina sighed. “I’d call you reckless, but...it’s far too late now. You still need to fix the name, though.”

“Portgas D. Aloise,” Rouge said, repeating it a few times to make sure she didn’t slip up again. 

Nina raised an eyebrow. “You’re keeping the D? What does that even mean?”

Rouge blinked. “I don’t know,” she said. She had never thought about it before. “My father had it in his name, and I inherited it. It would be in her name, regardless.”

“Well, I guess it’s settled then,” Nina said. “Not a moment too soon, either. My coworkers are picking me up to hop on the ship next week. You should be good to go home in a day or two.”

Rouge’s brain stuttered a bit. Go home...with a baby...that she would be raising herself. With no prior experience. 

“Right,” she said faintly. Why did she ever think this would be a good idea?


	2. A Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloise is five. Roger returns to Baterilla.

Aloise was five years old. She was five, and that meant she wasn’t a baby. And babies didn’t cry because they were chased away from the playground. 

Well, she wasn’t really chased, no one could make her do anything she didn’t want to (except maybe Mama), but the older kids were calling her names. And who wants to play on the swings anyway! There were better places to play on the island, places that she could spend time with herself and not have to put up with other stupid kids. 

There weren’t a lot of children in her village. Most of the kids were older than her, and they didn’t like her at all. A few months ago, they tolerated her but still called her mean things. Something about not having a father and her mother not being her real mother. Both Mama and Aunt Lily said those kinds of insults were stupid, so she called the other kids stupid in return. Then they started pulling her hair and pushing her into the sand. 

Mama told her she wasn’t allowed to push the other kids when they pushed her anymore, which was totally unfair! How was she supposed to stop them from pushing her if she couldn’t push back? Though they didn’t touch her after she broke Tommy’s wrist. On accident. She told Mama it was an accident. Mama believed her, but she was still grounded for a week and made to apologize. The other kids stopped calling her “little bastard,” and now called her “little ogre.” 

But that didn’t matter! The other kid’s opinions didn’t matter because she found the perfect place—a little cove near her house, hidden by a small swamp and large rocks. There was even a small dock! And plenty of sand to make sandcastles, and little tide pools to look at fun sea creatures! The waves weren’t as big as the other beaches, so she could even swim without too much difficulty!

After trudging through the swamp and climbing the large boulders, Aloise happily shook off her sandals and dug her toes into the sand of the cove. Her cove. 

She rummaged through the pockets of her dress and took out her dolls. They were both made by her mother, one with strawberry blonde hair like Aloise and her Mama, and the other had black yarn for hair and a funny-looking hat. The dolls’ names changed depending on what game she was playing, but most of the time, she called them Strawberry and Hat Man. 

Right now, they were Princess Strawberry of the Kingdom of Magic and the mysterious Wizard of Hats. The Kingdom of Magic was in turmoil because of a deadly disease killing the citizens, and Princess Strawberry had to travel to the end of the world to find the exiled wizard to fix it. The Wizard of Hats had to leave the Kingdom of Magic because he kept selling cursed hats to people and now had to make a living by selling the fish he’d catch while sitting on the dock at the edge of the world. Princess Strawberry tried to get him to come back to the kingdom to help get rid of the disease, but it turns out he didn’t actually know magic; he was just an innocent hatmaker cursed by his evil brother to only make cursed hats! So now Princess Strawberry and the Not-Wizard of Hats had to find his wicked brother to break his curse and stop the disease, and on the way, they fell in love! But when they got to the castle the evil brother was living in, a giant sea monster attacked their ship, and they were both eaten! And then—

“Aloise? Aloise, it’s time for dinner!” 

Aloise looked up from her dolls and the bits of rock and seaweed that were supposed to be a sea monster and magical ship. “Coming!” She stood up, stuffed her dolls back in her pockets, slipped on her sandals, and made her way back home. 

Mama frowned when she got home. “You got your dress all dirty again! Go wash your hands, young lady.”

Aloise didn’t respond to the comment about the dirt on her clothes. Playing at the cove meant getting a little dirty, and since she wore different clothes every day anyway, what was the point of getting worried about some dirt? She brushed off some of the sand on her dress, washed her hands, and climbed onto her seat. 

“I made something a little different tonight, so tell me if you like it!” her mother said before placing a plate of food in front of her. 

Aloise poked at the plate full of rice and vegetables. “No meat for dinner?”

Her mother smiled sadly. “Not tonight, sweetheart. But, there are beans in there! The little white spongy things. Your Aunt Lily was experimenting with making tofu out of soybeans and gave me some.”

Aloise squinted at the little white bean things. She ate a small bite. It wasn’t very good, but it also wasn’t the worst dinner her mother had cooked for them. 

Aloise stuck out her tongue. Her mother sighed. 

“No good, huh? Well. Plug your nose and eat it as quickly as you can.” Aloise did so since she knew other food would not be given. Mama said that this time of year was the worst for business, so they had to save up what they could. That meant less meat and more scrounged vegetables from their small garden. 

Aloise needed to learn how to fish. Mama didn’t have any rods, but maybe she could make one? How do you make a fishing rod? Or maybe she could make a net and try and catch some that way. Mama probably knew how to make a net.

“Mama? Can you make a net so I can catch fish?” Aloise asked. 

Her mother frowned. “You mean by your cove? You know I don’t want you going in the water with no one there.”

“I wouldn’t be in the water, just maybe my feet! Then we could have fish!” Aloise pleaded. Mama was scared Aloise would be swept up in a riptide if no one was watching her in the water, but she was five years old now and definitely old enough to swim by herself!

Mama sighed and rubbed her temples. “Alexander might have an old fishing rod you can borrow...but you have to wait until I have time to teach you how to use it properly, alright?”

Aloise grinned and bounced in her seat. “I promise!” She kept smiling as she thought about all the fish they could eat once she started catching them. Then they could have rice and vegetables with fish instead of the bean sponge. 

Several days later, Aloise marched to her special cove with a bag full of bait and a fishing rod. Aunt Lily’s husband had been more than happy to lend them his old fishing rod since he hardly ever went fishing nowadays. Mama had gone with her to her cove and sat with her on the docks, showing her how to bait the hooks and cast the line. 

“Where did you learn how to fish, Mama?” Aloise had asked. 

Mama had given her a sad smile. “My father taught me. Many, many years ago.” 

Aloise savored every story about her grandfather that her mother was willing to part with. She was named after him, and every insult about her weird name that the other kids could come up with would never make her feel ashamed of it. She was named for Portgas D. Alois, and she will always be proud of that!

She was about to jump off the last boulder that led to the cove and froze. There was a boat beached there. 

Aloise quickly ducked behind the rocks. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here! This was her cove! None of the other kids knew about it, and none of the fishermen docked here because it was too hard to get back to the village! She peeked over the boulder again. 

The boat that was beached was a small wooden rowboat, and two teenagers were standing nearby. One had hair as red as a tomato, and the other one had a nose that was red enough to match it. She had never seen these two boys before. Who were they? She looked around the cove and saw a large ship anchored in the waters. Her heart hammered in her chest as she realized the ship’s flag was black. 

Pirates! There were pirates on Baterilla!

She rushed home as fast as she could on her shaky legs. Baterilla didn’t have many protocols for pirate attacks since the marine patrols in the South Blue were usually good at stopping them before they got this far from the Grand Line. Baterilla was not home to many wealthy nobles, either. Mostly fishermen and craftsmen. The best advice was to hide in your home, extinguish all the lamps, and pretend no one was home. 

But Mama wouldn’t know about the pirates! They arrived at the secret cove no one went to! Did anyone know about the pirates? Were they setting fire to the village right now?!

She dashed up the hill to their cottage, threw open the door, and practically skidded into the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table. “MAMA! Mama, there’s a pirate ship—”

Her shouts cut off when she realized there was another person at the table. It was a man, tall even when he was sitting in a chair that looked too small and slumped over their kitchen table. He had black hair, a curly mustache, and a weird hat that seemed somewhat familiar. 

He also was looking at her like he’d just been punched in the stomach. Aloise shifted on her feet, a little uncomfortable. Her mother never invited strangers over to their house. 

“Aloise! You’re back early!” Her mother got out of her chair and knelt beside her. She put a hand on Aloise’s shoulder. “This is my...friend, Roger. Can you say hello?”

Aloise stared at the tall man sitting in their kitchen. Mama has weird friends. “Hello, Mr. Roger,” she said as politely as she could. “But Mama! I was at the cove, and I saw a ship with a black flag! What are we going to do? What if they try to burn the house down?”

“Ah, Aloise! It’s fine, the pirates...well. They are pirates, but they aren’t going to hurt anyone. They are just...visiting. Not burning down the island.” Mama threw a glance at Mr. Roger. “Right?”

“YES! I mean, no, of course not. No fires here.” Mr. Roger’s voice was high-pitched and shaky. 

Aloise looked at her mother in horror. “You’re friends with a pirate?” 

Mr. Roger the Pirate chuckled a little. “She’s a smart one, isn’t she?”

Mama smiled a little. “Yes, very smart.” There was silence in the kitchen. Aloise hadn’t felt this awkward since she had to apologize to Tommy for breaking his wrist. 

Mr. Roger cleared his throat. “So...what’s your name, little one?”

Aloise gave him a funny look. “I’m Aloise,” she said in a voice that told him she thought he was stupid. Which he was; Mama had said her name a lot since she came in.   
“Aloise, be polite,” her mother scolded. Aloise scowled. It wasn’t her fault that Mr. Roger the Pirate didn’t know how to listen. 

“Ah, of course, of course. I’m Roger!”

Aloise was seriously questioning her mother’s taste in friends. “I know.”

Silence again. Maybe if she slipped out the back, she could go back to the cove to catch some fish? If the pirates didn’t want to hurt anyone in the village, she’d probably be safe. 

Mama sighed. “Aloise, this is your father. You’ve never met him before today, and he stopped by after you left the house this morning.”

Aloise’s eyes widened. “I have a dad?” 

Her mother let out a slightly panicked chuckle. “Of course you have a dad. Everyone has a dad.”

Aloise looked at Mr. Roger again. He looked like he was face-to-face with a sea king on a raft with no oars. He was clearly terrified. Aloise felt slightly proud of that. 

“Where have you been?” Aloise said bluntly. 

Roger immediately started stuttering, frantically trying to apologize. “I’m sorry! I had no idea—I would have come back as soon as I heard! I was-I was at sea, and there was no way to get postage, and I swear I would have never left for so long if I had known!”

Aloise crossed her arms. “So you never came back to check on Mama, either?”

Roger looked like he might burst into tears. “N-no, but—”

“Aloise, stop bullying your dad.”

“I’m not!” she protested. Maybe she was a little bit. But he deserved it, right? Aloise may not care that the other kids called her a bastard, but she knew it was supposed to be a bad thing if your parents weren’t married. Mama was the most kind and beautiful person in the world, so if she and Mr. Roger the Pirate never got married, it was clearly the fault of her dad. 

“Aloise...why don’t you go to your cove? I...need to speak with Roger alone for a bit. You wanted to go fishing earlier, right?” Mama said. Aloise scowled. Not only did Mr. Roger the Pirate not be good enough to marry, but now he made her leave the house as well! This was so unfair. Or maybe Mama was going to tell him to leave and never come back but wanted Aloise gone so he wouldn’t get too embarrassed. Mama was too kind for this world!

“Fine.” Aloise left the kitchen after giving Roger one final glare. He scrunched up in his chair like she’d thrown a rock at him. Maybe she’ll do that later. 

Now that she knew the pirates had come with her...father...she felt less scared. Mama had told her that some pirates were bad people and liked to kill and steal from good people, but other times pirates could be regular people that the government didn’t like. Mama told her to always be careful anyway, but these pirates were probably not the killing kind. Probably. 

Mr. Roger the Pirate and also Her Father said they wouldn’t be setting anything on fire, so they probably wouldn’t kill anyone either. 

Aloise walked back to her cove with a weird feeling in her stomach. Mama said that you feel butterflied in your stomach when you like someone, but this didn’t feel like butterflies. It felt like several rocks were weighing down her guts. 

She had a father. Who was a pirate. A nice pirate? Aloise thought all pirates were criminals who raided villages. How can you be a pirate and still be nice?

Aloise finally arrived at the cove. The two teenagers were still there, this time joined by a man with long, greying hair. She hid behind a tree for a bit, wondering if she should just wait until the pirates went into town or back to their ship. 

She tensed when the man with the grey hair looked directly at the tree she was hiding behind. He made a gesture to the two teens, who immediately stopped squabbling. The man squinted in her direction, and she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. 

“Who’s hiding over there?” the man called out. “Why don’t you come out and say hello?”

They’re not here to burn down the island, and their crewmate is friends with Mama. Aloise will be fine. Probably.

She stepped away from the tree and studied the three pirates before her. The one with the red nose (red and round nose. A fake nose?) snorted. 

“You worried about a little girl, Raleigh?” the teenager said. The man just shrugged.

“Yo, kiddo? Sorry for intruding, haha!” the teen with red hair said. 

Aloise scowled. “You should be,” she muttered. 

“Oh? Maybe you didn’t know,” the teen with the red nose said, leaning over in an attempt to look menacing. “We’re pirates! So maybe you’d better scram, kid!”

Aloise glared at the stupid boy with the stupid nose. “This is my cove,” she said. “And Mr. Roger said you wouldn’t do anything on the island.”

The stupid boy choked. “Mr. Roger?! You’ve met the captain?”

So he was the captain? Weird. Her father was the captain of a pirate ship. “He’s friends with Mama,” she said with a shrug. 

“How old are you?” the man with grey hair, Raleigh, asked. 

“Five,” Aloise replied, but she was done paying attention to the pirates. She had fish to catch! She started setting up her rod at the end of the dock while the two teens started arguing. 

“The kid’s got the same hair as her…”

“But we were here more than five years ago! The dates don’t match up!”

“She’d be pregnant for nine months before giving birth, dumbass!”

“Oh…”

Aloise cast the line as far as she could and sat down at the edge of the dock. She heard the footsteps of Raleigh coming up behind her but didn’t turn around. He squatted down on his toes next to her, his knees cracking loudly.

“So what’s your name, then?” he asked.

“Aloise.”

“Hm. Interesting name. Your mother Rouge?”

“Yeah.”

“And your father…?”

Aloise just shrugged. “Your captain, I guess.”

Raleigh sighed heavily. “Of course he is…”

Aloise glared into the gentle ocean water. “It’s not my fault.”

“I know it’s not. I bet he reacted great to the news?”

“Psh. He’s a scaredy-cat.”

Raleigh let a full-bellied laugh. “In this situation? Any man would be terrified.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's a Self-Insert story. Don't take it too seriously, please.


End file.
